Thriller Guy usually steers clear of making any Best Of
pronouncements, not because he’s afraid of making his opinions known or
promoting one writer over another, (you regular Thriller Guy readers are
well aware of that) but because he reads books so far ahead of their
publication date he’s usually forgotten what they were by the time the rest of the
world is reading them. But because he was recently asked to make such a
pronouncement, he’s given the matter some thought and decided on a superb
holiday present for the thriller reader in your household, especially if he’s a
military adventure reader. The Red Dragon
Rising, four book series by Larry Bond and Jim de Felice.
Both of these guys are military adventure thriller writers
separately and together. Their years of experience and original, ripped from
the headlines plots and excellent writing skills make them masters of the
genre. Here’s a summary (taken from Bond’s website) of the first book in the
series, Shadows of War: “In 2014, climate change
has pushed the world to the boiling point. China faces drought and famine; gas
costs $14.39 a gallon in the US; Europe has problems of its own. China sets her
sights on food-rich Vietnam and engineers a casus belli designed to justify
her aggression, but Josh McArthur, a climatologist doing field work near the
border, escapes the massacre of his research team and finds evidence of another
- evidence that would discredit Chinese claims and frustrate their plans. Josh
must not only escape the Chinese agents hunting him, but he's in the middle of
a fast-moving war that is swallowing the country. Josh needs help, and gets it
from several places, but he needs to get his information, and himself, if
possible, to safe hands.”
The
next three books are, Edge of War, Shock
of War, and Blood of War. While
the “hero” of the first book, Josh McArthur, remains a focal point in the
series, it is the other characters that are developed -- in particular Major
Zeus Murphy -- who are really the stars. Murphy is on loan to the Vietnamese
army, and his brilliant tactics against the Chinese lead to some of the best
military action scenes in the thriller genre. At this point these books aren’t
bundled, so to give someone a complete set you’re going to have to go to Amazon
and buy them individually. As a matter of fact, the fourth book that ends the series,
Blood of War, isn’t even slated to
hit the shelves until Jan. 23. But you could buy the first three, give them as
a present, and then add on the last one when it becomes available.
Thriller
Guy has convinced Allen Appel that this is the season of giving, so Appel’s
book, Time After Time, is being
offered as a free eBook for the next few days. You can go to The Appel Store to find a link; look on the For Free page for this book and other interesting
news.
No comments:
Post a Comment